Government are doing a bad deal with a very successful Aer Lingus

Your readers should be aware that the Government has agreed to sell its share in Aer Lingus to the International Airlines Group (IAG), which also owns British Airways (BA), for a pittance.

For an outlay of about €1.4 billion, IAG will acquire almost €1 billion in cash according to the last balance sheet. Given Aer Lingus’ strong trading performance, that cash position has undoubtedly improved substantially since then. IAG will also acquire 23 Heathrow slots worth in excess of €600 million at current market values. That is before the value of the fleet and other assets is included. It is the heist of the decade, if not the century.

To sell it for a return to Irish taxpayers of a paltry €350 million is an abomination. It demonstrates this Government’s propensity to screw up on big financial issues, eg, Irish Water.